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Ben McAdoo is a clear case of that, as he ended up being fired within two seasons as the head coach of the New York Giants. The guy that will be taking over as the Giants’ next head coach, Pat Shurmur, is in the same discussion as failed head coaches in their first try.

Shurmur was head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2011-2012 and went 9-23 during his two seasons. Collectively, the Browns have gone 1-31 in the last two seasons and haven’t even won nine games combined in their last three seasons, so Shurmur’s record isn’t as bad as what Cleveland has produced.

He also was given a very raw deal in his two seasons, dealing with a lockout in 2011 and ownership changes that decided to fire everyone without being given a fair chance.

Despite that, Shurmur was one of the hot commodities on the coaching market this winter and after an extensive search, the Giants have reportedly found their guy in Shurmur.

Shurmur’s old boss, Mike Holmgren, who was the Browns president during that time and hired Shurmur in 2011, feels that Shurmur will need to learn from his first head coaching experience and one of those things is just relaxing.

“He’s kind of quiet and kind of serious,” Holmgren told the New York Daily News on Monday night. “I’m not that serious. It’s hard for him to shoot the breeze. He’s really bright and works really hard. He has a good way about him with his staff. I’m disappointed he didn’t come in and talk to me enough. I was down the hall. I wish Pat had done that with me more. They want to do their own thing and don’t want to show they don’t know what is going on. I understand that. I’m really happy for him that it looks like he’s getting another chance.”

Holmgren also added that Shurmur might want to do a little less reading of what others thought of him during the year.

“He read everything. He knew everything that was said,” Holmgren said. “I told him, ‘You can’t let it get to you. Don’t create an adversarial situation.’ I tried to counsel him that way.”

For his sake, Shurmur isn’t the only former Browns cast-off coach who was able to find work again in the NFL. Bill Belichick was fired after five seasons in Cleveland and he only managed to win five Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and is in line for a sixth.

Another potential coach the Giants interviewed during their search, Josh McDaniels, was also a failed head coach in his first go-around with the Denver Broncos. He was fired mid-season just like McAdoo was in his his second season. McDaniels is likely to be hired by the Indianapolis Colts.

Even Tom Coughlin, who won two Super Bowls with the Giants in his 11 seasons as their head coach, was fired from his first head coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Most think the better head coaches in the league who get a second opportunity generally learn from their first experience and are able to better themselves with the next team. Those who don’t usually don’t get a third opportunity.

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For the Giants’ sake, they are hoping Shurmur will follow in the footsteps of guys like Coughlin and Belichick who made the most out of their second opportunity and went on to have Hall of Fame careers.

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